Normal antlions are tiny and only prey upon equally small invertebrates, but, in the desert kingdom of Almarl, gigantic specimens can be found that are large enough to feed on humans and demihumans. Like its smaller cousins, an Antlion Larva should undergo metamorphosis, to become a winged adult, upon reaching maturity, but, to date, no such change has ever been documented, nor has anyone ever seen a giant winged antlion. As such, some sages have speculated that the Antlion Larva's prodigious size is a result of magical manipulation, not evolution; they further contend that the enormous doodle bug is permanently trapped in its immature state--no amount of eating or growth will ever trigger the change into adulthood.

Voracious ambush predators, Antlion Larvae view all other organisms, including people, as food. The creature completely buries itself under loose earth, at the bottom of a large, sloping, conical pit if spatial conditions permit, where it then lies in wait for prey--concealed in this fashion, it is nearly impossible to detect the monster's presence until it is too late. When the Antlion Larva senses vibrations nearby (i.e., footsteps), the arthropod erupts from its hiding place and immediately attacks with its barbed mandibles. However, if a party is fortunate enough to encounter a specimen that has recently fed, they may be allowed to pass unharmed. Antlion Larvae never associate with any other monster species, but they are known to form small packs with their own kind [1D2+1 (2-3) individuals] in areas where prey is particularly abundant (i.e., a dungeon).

As lowly Level 2 creatures [they only have 2D6 (2-12) hit points], Antlion Larvae, despite their size and appetites, aren't much more than an annoyance to experienced adventurers, but, the injuries that their mandibles can inflict [2D4 (2-8) points of damage] can prove fatal to novice dungeon explorers. An Antlion Larva's chitinous exoskeleton is relatively soft, and the insect typically wages battle from a stationary position (the abdomen is usually left buried in the sand when it emerges to attack), as such, they are fairly easy to strike with almost any type of weapon (an Antlion Larva has an Armor Class of 8; note, that in classic Dungeons & Dragons rules, which Wizardry is based upon, the lower your AC number, including negative values, the better--for comparison purposes, a normal, unarmored human adult has a slightly worse AC of 10). The desert-dwelling insect's natural resistance to heat (it only suffers 1/2 damage from flames) will also likely frustrate beginner practitioners of thaumaturgy (the lower-level, damage-dealing spells from the Mage's school of magic tend to be fire-based).

Patraw, you make amazing customs. I love your miniatures. How do you add the articulation to the figures? I've always wanted to make my own miniature figures but I don't know how. Could you send me an E-Mail of a worded tutorial on how you make yours? Thanks

I usually do articulation on my figures with bendable "memory" wire (which I mostly get from wire twist ties, although jewelry wire would also work). My articulated figures have tiny, hollow canals running through their limbs and body, which I run the wire through (similar to an elastic strung doll). Gaps and slots between the individual pieces of the figure allow the wire to bend at those points, providing the articulation. I also occasionally incorporate true pin/pivot joints, depending on what I'm doing. Those are mostly just a matter of making a peg and hole interface. The only downside to wire articulation is that metal is subject to stress fatigue, so, if you use the joint too much, or twist it around-and-around, it will eventually snap. You can make the joints stronger by using multiple wires, even braiding them together into a thicker cable (generally, the bigger the figure, the more wires you have to use--I can get away with using only one or two wires on most of my characters, because of their small size and light weight, but on larger and heavier 7-9" tall figures I've made, I used a lot more than that to provide the strength required).

By the way, this particular figure doesn't have any articulation, although it would have been relatively easy to make fully pose-able segmented legs and jaws for it.

As far as making the actual figures go, it's just papier mache modeling/fabrication done on a small scale. On the most basic level, it's simply a matter of shaping glue-smeared paper strips into 3-dimensional shapes, or applying them onto a form to make a copy of the desired shape (for example, I make the hollow limbs for my figures, which allows me to run the previously mentioned wire through them, by wrapping paper around sewing needles).

The figures contained in the Custom Showcase are not for sale by Figure Realm, and the creators of the customs are no way affiliated with Figure Realm. The Custom Showcase is purely for entertainment purposes and only provides a means for the creators to show off their work. Figure Realm does not make or sell customs.